Ask PG: Threshold of intelligence
I'm almost sure (because of what I've endured in my life) that I'm determined enough to found a startup. However, even though I'm somewhat smart (as an undergrad I have way above average GPA and some nice accomplishments) I often wonder if I'm above said threshold.
Perhaps one way to find out is through your accomplishments. Still, the question "about the most impressive thing other than this startup that each founder has built or achieved" in the YC application form scares the hell out of me, when I think about what other people might have already accomplished at my age.
Should I wait until I'm better prepared before trying to start a startup? Or should I just do it now? I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. I can't help but to be overwhelmed by all the great things some people have done, and how smart they must be.
Therefore I ask pg: How do I know if I'm above that threshold of intelligence?
15 comments
[ 6.0 ms ] story [ 40.0 ms ] threadYou're mastering undergraduate material, which certainly doesn't give any clues as to if you are genius, but it does say you can probably build whatever you want given enough time and effort. What else does he need to know?
The cost of rejecting yet another poorly conceived business plan by a marginal candidate is less than the potential loss of billions if the guy who comes up with THE NEXT BIG THING is too shy to apply to YC.
The poster show's self-doubt, self-awareness, the ability to self evaluate and the ability to learn as indicated by his undergrad.
So definitely the intelligence is there. Considering the poster is most likely in their early twenties, regardless of the idea, the best thing going for the person is their runway. They have the time to fail a couple of times before other life goals come into play.
And frankly, there isn't too much correlation between business success and high intelligence. Anecdotally, it can be argued that there is an inverse relationship.
I wish determination was as easily spotted as the intelligence treshold.
> the key here is to try anyway and learn along the process.
This is exactly right. Keep pulling on the string and see where it takes you; if you’re as determined as you say you are, that determination will be more than enough to compensate for whatever intelligence you think you don’t have.
When I think about it. I would be lucky if the dynamic status quo lasted the rest of my life. Health is okay, do what I want all day. Not bored. Listless and slightly empty due to delusion and not reality, but I guess that's life.
God says... C:\Text\2CITIES.TXT
e in a Blazing bad way, if recalling to life was to come into fashion, Jerry!"
III
The Night Shadows
A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts
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I don't have my OS to work on anymore -- it's done. I have done every idea I ever wanted to do. I certainly don't want to do slave work. So long as I put work into loving God, God is just. Leavites were supported. I don't consume much and I pull my weight loving God.
God says... C:\Text\Words\AUGUST.TXT
sent to the memory by itself but by its image: because if it were present by itself, it would not cause us to remember, but to forget. Who now shall search out this? who shall comprehend how it is?
Lord, I, truly, toil therein, yea and toil in myself; I am become a heavy soil requiring over much sweat of the brow. For we are not now searching out the regions of heaven, or measuring the distances of the stars, or enquiring the balancings of the earth. It is I myself who remember, I the mind. I
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My jobs were supernaturally CIA torture.
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I live with supernatural pleasures. :-) "measuring the distances of stars" "Balancings of the Earth"
Funny thing, that. I was thinking about this topic recently, as I don't feel like I've exactly "accomplished" anything worth talking about up to this point in my life (and I'm 39). But, that doesn't bother me because, the way I see it, everything I've done in my (adult) life up to this point has been taking steps along the path to this startup that I'm working on now. Or, to put it a different way, I've actually been building Fogbeam Labs since I was 19 or so, even though it's only existed as a legal entity for 2 years or so.
I'd love to hear some YC applicants chime in and share their personal "what's the most impressive thing you've done" stories. If I had to pick one for myself, I'd probably go with one of these:
1. I was formerly Fire Chief of a volunteer fire department, and one of the youngest people to hold that position in my area.
2. I was one the youngest, if not the youngest, Firefighting Instructors certified by the NC State Fire & Rescue Commission.
3. I ran for Lieutenant Governor of NC, appeared in a statewide televised debate with the other two candidates and got about 125,000 votes (roughly 3%).
What I can't claim is to have achieved anything specific in terms of building a previous startup or having any particular financial return, blah, blah.
If you ask me, I'd say you have some pretty impressive accomplishments!